Tatewaki Kuno (Continuum-29457180)
Tatewaki Kuno (九能帯刀 Kunō Tatewaki?) is one of Ranma Saotome's rivals as well as a suitor for both Akane Tendo and Ranma in his female form. The son of Principal Kuno and the older brother of Kodachi Kuno, he is rarely referred to by his first name by the other characters. "Tatewaki" means "bringing a sword" which relates to how he almost always carries a Bokken with him. "Kuno" means "nine abilities" which is an obvious joke on how skilled he believes he is. Appearance Kuno is one of the taller characters and has dark hair worn short. Three years ago he was shaved bald by his father in the course of a fight, which he still resents. He normally wears the kendo uniform, known as a kendogi, in the form of a white uwagi (also blue in the anime), with medium coloured hakama (also black in the anime), even while at school, moreso than the gakuran worn by the male students. Once in competition he wore the bōgu or training armour. Kuno has also dressed in a formal men's kimono depending on the circumstances. History While on an evening out with his family Godai and his wife Hitome spotted an old friend Genma Saotome and his son Ranma and invited them along. Throughout their meal Hitome couldn’t help noticing that Kodachi was hanging very close to the side of little Ranma, enjoying the sight of the good looking boy while Tatewaki fumed and tried to act pompous. This filled Hitome with both nostalgia for the time when she had been in her daughters place and torment for what might have been. After the two men got thoroughly drunk Hitome and the kids dragged them home. When he woke up the next day Hitome convinced Godai that in a drunken stupor he generously invited Genma and his son to stay with them for. It was in an effort to confirm this that Godai first witnessed a sparring session between son and father. Seeing the Genma’s skill and a trainer and the spirit Ranma raised in his own children Godai proposed that he stay with him and his family while training his children. Two weeks Genma stayed there Tatewaki and Kodachi looked up to their "Uncle Genma," for he was stern but fair in lavishing both praise and criticism, using Ranma as both an example and a foil to motivate his other students into doing their best, and then exceeding their best efforts. Unfortunately all was not as it appeared while Hitome was thrilled and her daughters increased skill she resented the fact that it wasn’t her who was able to bring out Kodachi’s potential. In addition to that her growing anger at Ranma for being the offspring of her rival Nodoka was fueled by her daughters growing fondness for the child. In two weeks’ time the children had all done very well indeed, though Ranma remained superior in every way to either of Hitome's children, a fact that was now at the core of her whole world of angry resentment. At last she could endure it no more and so requested to spend time alone with the boy, intending to rid herself of this constant reminder of her inadequacies, and of the mistake she had made in choosing Godai for a husband. On a quite unsuspecting night when Hitome was at the core of her angry resentment she attempted to kill Ranma. It was only the timely intervention of both Kodachi and Tatewaki that saved him. Devastating in not being able to see how unhappy his wife truly was Godai decided to enter a Buddhist temple. However before he left he had Genma agree to making Kodachi Ranma’s iinazuke as well as remaining the teacher of his children. Sadly the next day the family woke up to find Genma and his son gone (along with a few of their own things) having left nothing behind but a note. Personality Tatewaki comes from wealthy samurai stock, and speaks in flowery poetic text. He has been described as a shy, private individual with an intensity about him that makes it difficult to approach him. Powers & Abilities Kuno’s skill has been greatly tempered by meeting Ranma earlier in life. During the time Ranma lived with them Kuno thrived on trying to improve himself so that he could finally defeat Ranma in combat, and when using a bokken proved insufficient, Tatewaki consented to be taught unarmed martial arts by Genma. This lead to the eventual creation of a variation of the Anything Goes School, Martial Arts Kenjutsu. Though undefined and still in relative infancy Martial Arts Kenjutsu incorporates numerous traditional schools of martial arts, known as koryū, with its numerous sub-categories of schools and styles. Kuno can effectively employ the traditional martial arts schools which deal with swordsmanship, in such a way, that they can use it almost exclusively in combat against their foes and win nearly any fight with them. thanks to his training in the Saotome and later the Tendo school Kuno is highly knowledgeable of martial arts that do not deal with swordsmanship, both for his own enlightenment and also to allow him to understand the movements and techniques of his foe's own special skills. He utilizes all aspects of hand to hand combat from punches and throws to kicks and palm strikes with flips, rolls, tumbles, cartwheels and other acrobatic maneuvers mixed in. the style is known for being very dynamic and unpredictable, allowing Kuno to dart around his opponents landing blow after blow with immense speed and power. Nenpo Mastery: His training in the art of Anything Goes, has allowed Kuno to attained an almost unrivaled understanding of the Nenpo concept. Because of this, he has attained knowledge of several powerful techniques that apply the "nenpo" concept in their usage, in addition to having developed many of his own. The technique is a form of self resonance by resonating with one's own soul the user can drive their own soul wavelength directly into an opponent's body through a physical strike on them. Nenpo enhanced strikes do not involve using physical force to deal damage, the incompatible Wavelength can cause strong direct and internal damage. In essence, at the point of contact of the external strike, the internal energy is focused to fan out from that point and spreads outwards into the target. The result is not based upon the damage that the initial strike would normally cause on its own, but rather that the target is demolished into minuscule pieces due to the vibration of the internal energy fanning out from that external strike. This particular form of internal energy is generally developed through ki being directed by one's willpower. It is the essence of drive, the will to push forward, to gain more power through themselves. It is not an art is not to be trifled with, it is the the power to wield one's dominance and use it to carve a path of destruction towards the future. The masters of Nenpo have weaved out powerful spells, as well as dishing out physical damage beyond their natural limits. Nenpo enhanced strikes are drawn from Kuno's willpower, and only that. This single aspect will make him the truest beast in battle he can be. If willpower is lacking, it disables the user from accessing their powers, to masters, it would weaken their techniques; it all depends on their strength to believe in themselves, confidence. There limits are only prohibited by Kuno Himself. The combination of the initial external strike and the fanning of force makes these particular techniques life-threatening to almost any sort of opponent should any one of them make direct contact, tearing an opponent's body apart and rendering them a mess of blood. Planet Destruction Cannon ('惑星破壊砲', Wakusei Hakaihō): The technique in which one harnesses one's internal force and after a palm strike to the opponent, Kuno can create a shockwave so powerful it can wrend even the most durable of entities' organs and skin asunder, and throw them across the horizon with considerable force. Twin Spears (双槍 Sōsō): This is a variation of the attack Planet Destruction Cannon that instead makes use of both hands, rather than just one. The attack works using the same principle as its one handed version; that by resonating with one's own body, the user can drive their own ki directly into an opponent's body through a physical strike on them, causing strong direct and internal damage. However, due to the inclusion of an extra hand, the attack's power is greatly amplified and able to incapacitate even strong opponents. ' ' Earth-Shattering (物凄い, Monosugoi): Initially it starts with an elbow strike to stun the enemy, then a powerful punch which sends a large amount of energy through the opponent's body. Three Extremes "Wèi" "Wú" "Shǔ": '''A variation of the Nenpo technique, that instead rapidly hits an opponent three times in succession, using the same fist. The attack inflicts enough internal damage to cause the target to bleed from the mouth. ' '''Sen'eikate ('先鋭化手, "Sharpened Hand"): a variation of the original nenpo technique. Kuno tightens together his fingers and forms a "knife hand" hand gesture with one of his hands. His energy is focused along the back edge of his knife hand and, like that of a sword, Kuno slashes his hand across in a particular direction and manner of his desire. The action of this motion causes anything and everything within the narrow range of his knife hand's back edge to be cut down. Sen'eikate is a far more refined technique in that it has a very controlled aim and direction of destruction, unlike the dangerous Nijusho. It is so precise that most opponents are unaware the strike had occured until the injury forms on their body or the target in question has already tore in two. Torite (捕手, "Catching Hand"): The defensive aspect of the Tendo school has lead Kuno to seek knowledge in this form of combat. Kuno has shown himself to be a true master of the Torite technique. Appropiately named "catching hand", the Torite is a technique that allows for a martial arts master to deflect and catch actual weapons. The idea of Torite, or rather his use of it, works according to the method at which Kuno uses his hand to catch onto an opponent's sword. It does not use raw strength whatsoever. In reality, Kuno allows his hand to act like "a rock in the river", allowing energy to circle around it without any harm befalling it. By his comprehension of energy and force flow, Kuno causes the entire force behind the opponent's sword attack to essentially move around his hand and escape from the opposite end in the very miniscule instant that he and the opponent's blade come into contact; that very instant. In this sense, at the very nanosecond that his hand and the blade make contact, the force behind the blow has completely abandoned the sword strike, meaning it has returned to a state of rest, making it child's play to hold the blade's sharp edge with his finger. especially skilled individuals are able to defeat this technique when it comes down to pure skill, not strength nor motion of the swing. However, Kuno comments that the more strength is behind the sword swing, the easier it is for his Torite to deflect the attack effortlessly, even if the swordsmen in question is of master-class skill. Therefore, attempting to strike down Kuno with a single sword technique is virtually impossible and must require a combination of masterful timing and skill in order to land a contact blow. Kuno has shown himself capable of blocking hyper-speed sword strikes, ranging from slashes to pierces, using only his Torite technique. However, when applying his nenpo mastery to his Torite sword catching techniques, the force of the sword slash does not "circle" around Kuno's hand and escape from the sword but rather it reverberates at the point of impact. The energy then storms the blade from the spot where Kuno stopped the sword slash, causing the entire sword to shatter into small pieces of metal. Category:Continuum-29457180